Still got thousands of VHS cassetteslittering your lounge? We look a closer look at five of the latest and greatest DVD-VHS combi machines on offer:

Alba DVCR3X1

Samsung DVD-V5500

Bush DVRHS01

Toshiba SD-34VB

Sharp DV-RW250H

Conclusion

With such a variety ofproducts on offer this proved to be a tricky group in which to choose anoutright winner. But there is one, and it may be a shock to the featurefanatics - it's the Samsung DVD-V5500, a plain old DVD player and VHS recorder!

While the Bush and Sharp machines here offer theadded bonus of recordable DVD, the picture quality on pure disc playback comesnowhere near that produced by the Samsung. The Toshiba offered some very usefulfeatures, too.

Perhaps not DVD-Audio, which is failing to shake therecord-buying public out of their low-quality bit-rate MP3 stupor, butcertainly DivX! With the increase in takeup of broadband internet connections,DivX is poised to become the video MP3.

If you want a good quality combi product thatwon't make your old video cassettes unwatchable, the Samsung is it. Picturequality is impressive, it's simple to set up and easy to use, build quality isexceptionally good for the price, and it's cheap enough to serve you well whileyou finish re-buying all your VHS cassettes on DVD.

It's not perfect, but it is definitely the bestcompromise here.